In the Cluster of Excellence 3D Matter Made to Order (3DMM2O), we pursue the vision of turning digital blueprints into reality using scalable 3D additive manufacturing. This form of shaping matter, in which one locally adds material rather than subtracting it, has become a powerful tool at the macroscale. Our unique selling point is that we bring this technology towards the molecular scale, to answer previously inaccessible questions in the life and engineering sciences and enable new applications.

Founded on more than forty years of experience at the University of Bayreuth in conducting Africa-focused research, the Africa Multiple Cluster of Excellence is designed to develop new responses to the theoretical, methodological and structural challenges facing African Studies. Since its inception in 2019, Africa Multiple has spearheaded innovative approaches and forms of collaborative research, with the objective of reconfiguring African Studies on both the conceptual and the structural level.

The health and well-being of humans, animals and plants, and a stable climate, are major concerns of our time. The functioning of all ecosystems on Earth depends critically on finely balanced interactions among microorganisms thriving in interconnected habitats like soil, water, and the human body. The balance of these microbiomes is constantly challenged by environmental and anthropogenic disturbances, leading to ecosystem degradation, severe crop losses, or disease. Current therapeutics often target symptoms rather than root causes, using disruptive agents like non-specific antibiotics that can worsen conditions. Although these issues are of utmost societal importance, there is a critical gap in our knowledge of the molecular factors that control microbiome dynamics.

The Bonn Center for Dependency and Slavery Studies (BCDSS) investigates well-known forms of de-pendency – such as Roman, transatlantic or Mamluk slavery, forced labor and debt bondage – as well as less visible forms, such as human trafficking and domestic servitude.

In recent years, cyberspace has embraced an ever-larger share of our lives, and the notion of the digital society has become a reality. At the same time, we observe massive qualitative and quantitative shifts in the cybersecurity landscape. The attack surface has expanded dramatically, with adversaries targeting a broad range of entities, including hospitals, government services, higher education institutions, and critical infrastructure. This is further aggravated by the evolution of nation-state attackers pursuing geopolitical goals such as election interference. Finally, the emergence of disruptive technologies like generative AI, quantum computing, and the growing popularity of blockchains and cryptocurrencies further amplifies the digital risks. This dramatic change in the cybersecurity landscape poses a fundamental threat to our society, jeopardizing democratic processes, critical infrastructures, and citizens’ privacy and well-being alike.

Today’s world is witnessing an ever-increasing number of older people. Aging is the primary risk factor for diabetes, cardiac, kidney, neurodegenerative, and skin diseases – among others. This dramatic demographic change poses enormous health and socio-economic challenges for societies, highlighting the urgent need to foster a healthy aging agenda.

Climate change and the depletion of natural resources threaten global food security and ecosystem stability. The Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences (CEPLAS) addresses these great challenges through fundamental research on complex traits of plants and associated microbiota (holobiont) that impact adaptation to limited resources and environmental change. This knowledge is key to CEPLAS’s long-term goal of predicting plant performance and enabling the design of SMART plants with novel traits and improved environmental adaptation.

CeTI²'s vision is to enable humans and machines to interact in near real time in globally distributed real and virtual environments. The cluster aims to develop innovative technological solutions to global challenges such as pandemics, demographic change, skills shortages, climate change, and geopolitical uncertainties.

Our mission is to understand the molecular language of life. How do cells in the body perceive signals in their environment, integrate this information to make decisions, and communicate with one another to coordinate functions in tissues? By developing new tools to control signalling, we strive to accelerate innovation for health and sustainable agriculture.

The future of our planet – for the human race, the fauna and flora, and all generations to come – largely depends on how Earth’s climate evolves. In this regard, which climate futures are plausible, and how can desirable futures be achieved? These questions are subject to considerable uncertainty. In order to make decisions, we human beings have to be able to realistically judge our circumstances, have to know what’s coming our way and what options we have for shaping tomorrow. At the University of Hamburg’s Cluster of Excellence “Climate, Climatic Change, and Society” (CLICCS), researchers are tackling these complex questions using a unique combination of academic rigor and interdisciplinary diversity.